BOSTON — Boston Properties has opened a 272-room hotel at The Hub on Causeway, a 2 million-square-foot mixed use development in Boston. Dutch brand citizenM will operate the hotel. The Hub houses direct connections to several entertainment and retail destinations in Boston, including the North Station transit line and TD Garden sports arena. California-based architecture firm Gensler designed the hotel, citizenM’s first property in the United States outside of New York.
SALEM, MASS. — Bell Partners Inc., a North Carolina-based property investment and management company, has purchased Vinnin Square Apartment Homes, a 148-unit multifamily property in Salem, a city located northeast of Boston. The property, which will be renamed Bell North Shore, comprises two five-story buildings, 16 townhomes and two additional buildings containing six units each. Amenities include a fitness center, walking trails, tennis courts and a pool. The seller and sales price were undisclosed.
FRANKLIN, MASS. — TMC Holdings & Development LLC will develop a 50,000-square-foot industrial property in Franklin, about 30 miles southwest of Boston. Formerly the site of a glass recycling facility, the property is located in the Marijuana Overlay District with frontage on I-495. TMC Holdings plans to demolish the facility and build a 50,000-square-foot warehouse with 22 to 24-foot clear heights. Construction is slated to begin in fall 2019. John Eysenbach of R.W. Holmes represented TMC Holdings in the transaction, as well as the seller, Strategic Materials Inc.
LYNN, MASS. — Fantini & Gorga has arranged $12.6 million in permanent financing for Marian Gardens, a 94-unit affordable housing multifamily property in Lynn, about 12 miles northeast of Boston. The property was built in the 1960s and includes two-, three- and four-bedroom townhouse units. Tim O’Donnell, Jason Cunnane and Lindsay Feig of Fantini and Gorga arranged the loan. The borrower and lender in the transaction were undisclosed.
BOSTON — Foundation Medicine Inc., a manufacturer of medical tests and supplies, has signed a 580,000-square-foot lease for laboratory and office space at 400 Summer Street in Boston. Massachusetts-based WS Development is currently developing the 16-story building, which will total 625,000 square feet, including 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Foundation Medicine will move its headquarters to the building and occupy all of the laboratory and office space. WS Development expects to begin construction later this year and for tenants to move in by 2023. New York-based Morris Adjimi Architects and the Boston office of Stantec are the architects.
BOSTON — Fortis Property Group has received an $87.5 million construction loan for LaGrange Street Residential Development, a 170-unit multifamily property in Boston. The project will include street-level retail. Apollo Global Management provided the loan. The property will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, 22 of which will be rented at below-market rates. Construction is underway, slated for completion in late 2021. Stantec is the architect of the project and Zarifi is the interior designer.
KINGSTON, MASS. — Local design-build firm Dacon Corp. has completed a 62,000-square-foot renovation project at the headquarters of the Sheehan Family Cos., a distributor of beer and spirits in the Northeast region. The property is located in Kingston, a city on the southeast coast of Massachusetts. Renovations expanded the facility by 47,000 square feet, adding more temperature-controlled areas, storage space and efficient distribution capabilities. Renovations to the existing facility covered an additional 15,000 square feet.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has brokered the $10.2 million sale of Springfield Commons, a 182,400-square-foot retail center located in the southwestern Massachusetts city of Springfield. Walmart anchors the property, which also houses tenants such as Dollar Tree and Sonic. Geoffrey Millerd, Justin Smith, Paul Penman, Samantha Torto and Robert Griffin represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Paramount Realty Services Inc.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — JLL has brokered the $33.2 million sale of a 206,000-square-foot data center in Marlborough, located northeast of Worcester. The property, which also offers some flex space, is located at 34 St. Martin Drive. At the time of sale, the center was 95 percent leased. Data center tenants TierPoint and Crown Castle lease 85 percent of the property’s rentable square footage with a weighted average lease term of well over 10 years. Frank Petz, Matt Sherry and Tom Ragno of JLL represented the seller, Lincoln Property Co., in the transaction. The buyer was California-based Menlo Equities.
Bolstered by strong growth in its millennial population and high-paying jobs, Boston’s urban core continues to boast one of the lowest retail vacancy rates in the country. But this trend has also led to a wave of new development that could temper that good news for Boston retail owners. According to data from Marcus & Millichap, metro Boston’s retail vacancy rate is expected to rise by 40 basis points from 3.2 percent to 3.6 percent in 2019, a year in which 1.3 million square feet of new projects are slated for completion. By comparison, the national vacancy rate stood at 10.2 percent at the end of the first quarter, reports Reis. Marcus & Millichap predicts that the uptick in metro Boston’s retail vacancy will slow the pace of annual rent growth to 3.3 percent. Population growth is fueling demand for housing, which in turn spurs demand for retail to serve those new residents. Metro Boston’s population has grown by more than 112,000 people over the last five years, according to Marcus & Millichap, and the area boasts a median household income in excess of $90,000. While the local rate of population growth mirrors that of the United States as a …